When Catawba Ridge Copperhead Audrey Wilson crushes a softball, it doesn’t waste any time getting out of the ball park. When it came time to pick a college, Wilson didn’t waste any time either.
A junior, Wilson’s official recruiting began Sept. 1. By Oct. 7, Wilson, 16, announced her decision on Twitter that she was going to be heading slightly north to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNCC). The highly sought-after catcher, Wilson had six offers in that short timeframe, and had been contacted by 11 schools.
In the class of 2024, Wilson is the 17th ranked softball recruit in the country and eighth ranked catcher. So, schools were flooding her mailbox to get to her, but for Wilson, UNCC was the right choice for a variety of reasons. Besides Charlotte, Wilson had in mind either James Madison University or Clemson University as her other top choices.
“I was pretty fortunate in the recruiting process throughout the whole thing,” she said. “Charlotte really stuck out to me because the coaching staff was so easy to talk to. I went up there a couple weeks ago and saw the teams and the coaches and got to hang out. The environment and culture they had felt like really fit what I was about. The offer they gave me indicated I would be playing pretty early on.”
Wilson can’t officially sign until her senior year, but said she is glad to get the process out of the way.
She plans on majoring in marketing or some type of business-related aspect.
“The process was a little stressful so it is good to have peace of mind that I am done with it,” she said. “All my siblings are close to home and both my dad and my mom have been a big part of the process in getting me where I am today, so I think it was important for them to be able to have them come watch me play. In Charlotte there is a lot of opportunities that will come along just being in the city.”
Wilson hit .479 as a sophomore with nine home runs and 47 RBIs and was named as an All-State player. She said committing early takes some pressure off, but she already made her mind up she wasn’t going to stress about it.
“I never had a strict timeline of when I wanted to be committed by and I just kind of went along with the process,” she said. “There is pressure, but playing wise I don’t think recruitment affects my mindset.”
A brick wall at the hot corner for Catawba Ridge in playing third base, Wilson is a catcher by trade and will be playing behind the plate in college. She feels confident going into her junior season that the Copperheads can make another run to the state title series.
“A lot of the teams we played last year that were some of our toughest competitors, they had a lot of seniors and we put up a good fight against them,” she said. “We only lost one (senior) where they might have lost four or five. That is a big advantage for us and we have a lot of the team coming back. We have really talented girls and I think we will make a good run this year.”
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
